


Catch A Falling Star

by Lyre (Lyrecho)



Category: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)
Genre: Amame/Iris Written In A Shippy Direction But Can Be Read As Gen, F/F, Feelings, Gen, Oneshot, PSYNCIN' IN THE ZaiNE, Post Resolution End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25761391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Lyre
Summary: never let it fade away(amame, iris & the big, painful conversation sitting awkwardly between them reach out for some closure)|Tumblr||Twitter|
Relationships: Doi Amame & Sagan Iris, Doi Amame/Sagan Iris
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Catch A Falling Star

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for PSYNCIN' IN THE ZaiNE, which I am so excited to finally post! It was a ride, working on the zine for the past few months, and it was absolutely a fun one. A big part of that was because of the other people who were a part of it - particularly the mod team, so shout out to them for being wonderful.

_ “Ugh.” _ Collapsing into a chair at closing time, customers long gone, Amame groans and rubs at her legs. “My feet are  _ so _ sore.”

“Don’t you mean your tail?” One coworker calls to her, and Amame, midway through trading out her heels for flats, throws a shoe at her. She catches it with a laugh, and Amame is soon shooed out of the door with orders to  _ get some rest, okay? _ and  _ come back less grumpy tomorrow! _

She rolls her eyes, but leaves without protest. She has plans for tonight, after all.

“Amame!” Iris’ voice, excited as she waves Amame over to Kaname Date’s car. Amame is quick to head in their direction.

“Hello, sir,” she greets, sliding into the back seat and squeezing Iris’ outheld hand in greeting, before nudging her to sit in her seat properly. “Thanks for coming to pick me up.”

Both Iris and Date snort. “Uncle doesn’t rate a  _ sir,” _ Iris tells her, and rolls her eyes. She’s all but vibrating in her seat. “I’m so glad you’re coming over! Uncle and Mum are going out on a date, so it’s just going to be us.”

“What about Mizuki?”

“She’s staying over at a friend’s house,” Iris says, and sounds proud. Amame is, too - Mizuki is a sweet girl, and it’s nice to see her branching out - getting to know people her own age.

“So, what are you girls planning to do? No wild parties, I hope.”

“Of course not!” Iris says. “I’m not  _ you, _ Uncle. We’re going to play ShovelForge.”

_ “Ugh,” _ Date and Amame say in unison, and, eyes bright, Iris winks at Amame over her shoulder.

The drive to Iris’ house is short - Date drives like a maniac, and Amame isn’t quite sure how he gets away with it beyond  _ he’s a cop,  _ but she’s thankful for it, because Iris’ house means pajama time.

Hitomi greets her with a warm smile and a tight, one-armed hug as Iris races ahead to throw Amame’s bag into her room, taking just a second to peck a kiss on her mother’s cheek.

“You girls be good, okay?” She says, and even though she’s an adult, Hitomi’s warm and motherly aura always makes Amame feel like she’s Mizuki’s age again. “You don’t need to worry about cooking - there are leftovers in the fridge to reheat, and I’ve left money on the counter if you want to order in. There are numbers on the fridge to call if it’s an emergency and Date and I aren’t picking up - ”

“Mum, oh my  _ god,” _ Iris butts in, “we’re literally not kids, you know!”

Hitomi smiles at Iris, mild and eyes crinkling shut. “Amame is in charge,” she says, over Iris’ spluttered out protests.

“What? Why! It’s my house!”

“And I’m older,” Amame says. 

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

The house is filled with high spirits when Iris has finally had enough of her parents teasing her, and shoves them out of the door with orders to not come back until late the next day.  _ Take Mum out for lunch, Uncle! _ she says, slamming the door shut and locking it.

“Freedom,” she breathes, and turns to Amame with bright, bright eyes. “You ready to ShovelForge?”

Amame resists the urge to groan. Iris is lucky she loves her. “I’m ready to ShovelForge,” she says, resigned. Iris cheers, and even though her words implied that ShovelForge was going to be a thing happening right then and there, she shoves Amame into the bathroom first, with towels and the pajamas she’d dug out of her bag. 

“Get clean, get changed, get comfortable,” Iris says, posing with a wink. “I’ll get everything set up!” She closes the door, and from the living room, Amame hears the sounds of cupboards opening and closing, the clack of wires being dropped on the floor.

She sighs, and places the stuff Iris had shoved at her down by the sink, turning the shower on. She runs the water hot, and tries to shower as quickly as possible without making it clear that she’s rushing.

She steps back out into the main area of the house, clean, relaxed, and ultimately more awake after a long, tiring day of waiting tables. Her cheeks hurt from keeping her smile up.

Iris looks up from where she’s hunched over her television, and while her hair falls across her face as she turns it in Amame’s direction, her smile is so bright she can see it anyway, under all the strands of pink.

“I’m nearly done,” Iris promises, and shoves the wires she’s holding into the back of the television - on the other end, they lead back to a console on the floor. The screen flickers blue, and then a logo lights it up.

“Great,” Amame says, and takes the controller Iris offers, flopping onto the couch next to her, her own controller in hand. “How are we doing this?” She’s never played ShovelForge before, and at some point, sort of started tuning Iris out when she started rambling about it. She just knows you build things with blocks. Digitally.

Iris hums. “I was thinking we could just do creation mode, and go wild?” She suggests. “Instead of survival mode. We could just have fun!”

Amame nods like she understands what was just said to her. “Awesome,” she says, and Iris loads them into the game.

They play in silence for a while, and Amame thinks she’s getting the hang of the game - is even having fun with it, a little - when she admits to herself that she’s stalling, and sighs, shifting in her seat.

She’d come here, tonight, for more than one reason, after all; she didn’t want to see Iris  _ just _ to ‘see Iris.’

She takes a deep breath, and braces herself. "So...you ready to talk about it, yet?" Amame eyes Iris as subtly as she can. Her friend is hunched over in her seat, leaning closer to the screen with her grip on her controller tight, her mouth open in concentration.

"Hmm?" She says, and doesn't look away from the screen. "Talk about what?"

"Whatever it is that happened to you last year," Amame says, "and  _ no _ , Iris, I don't mean the surgery."

Iris stills, but shakes it off quickly, flashing Amame one of her trademark A-set smiles. On screen, her character falls off of the tower they’re building, but her health doesn’t go down. "Nothing happened to me last year," she says.

"You used to be a better liar," Amame tells her.

She doesn’t say it to be cruel. Iris still flinches. Amame has to wrestle down the urge to pull Iris close and comfort her - that’s what she’s been doing this entire time, and if she keeps treating Iris like she needs to be coddled, she’ll never get the truth out of her.

“Where’d you even get the money for the surgery  _ from?” _ Amame presses, and tries not to feel guilty as Iris cringes in on herself. “I’ve been doing some research, and your treatment is  _ pricey. _ You have generous sponsors, and a lot of them - but they’re  _ nowhere _ within that price range.”

“Stop it!” Iris’ eyes look wet and shiny as she glares at Amame. “Just stop! Why are you asking all of this? It’s over! It doesn’t matter!”

“I’m asking because you’re my  _ friend,” _ Amame shoots back, “ and you’ve been acting weird since before your surgery, so of course it matters!  _ What _ is ‘over?’”

_ “Nothing!” _

_ “Bullshit!” _

Amame slams her hand down. It lands on the couch cushion and her controller, resting on it, falls. The resulting crash makes both her and Iris jump as reality intrudes on their conversation.

Amame reaches down to pick her controller back up. “You used to be better at keeping your cool, too,” she says quietly. 

Iris sniffles. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Guilt seeps, and Amame pauses. “You don’t have to,” she says. “It was selfish of me to ask, anyway. I shouldn’t be forcing you to talk about something that upsets you. I was just… hurt, I guess, that you didn’t want to talk to me about it. Didn’t trust me enough.”

Iris’ eyes on her are wounded. “I trust you!” She protests.

“But you don’t want to talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk to  _ anyone,”  _ Iris corrects. “Mum and Uncle and even Mizuki keep pushing me to talk to a counselor, but… I’m not ready for that. Not yet.”

“Do you think you’ll ever be?”  _ Do you think you’ll be able to talk to me, Iris? _

Iris shrugs, and looks away, picking at her hair. “I don’t know,” she says quietly. “I think I’d rather just bottle it up under a smile forever.”

“...that’s not healthy, Iris.”

A weak smile. “I know,” Iris admits. “But it’s where I am, right now.” Slowly, hesitantly, she peeks across at Amame, and shifts in her seat. “... can I get a hug?”

Amame pulls her in. Cold wires between them, but Iris is warm as she relaxes into Amame’s arms. “Love you,” Amame whispers.

A quiet, barely there sniffle. “Love you too,” Iris says.

Conversation dropped for another day but not forgotten, the rest of the evening passes in peaceful quiet, Iris leaning into Amame.

Tangled up together on the too-small couch, they fall asleep holding hands.


End file.
